History will remember that it was following an injury to Arnaud Bodart that Matthew Epolo played his first match with the Standard first team. Launched into the arena, the club's young hopeful showed that he had character by not hesitating to leave his large rectangle to offer passing solutions to his central defenders. In the eighth minute, he even found himself… in the central circle, in the role of manager of the Liège game.
This first at the highest level did not allow him to sign a first clean sheet. However, he had jumped perfectly at Ogawa's feet but the ball unfortunately bounced off the Japanese player and ended up in the back of the net.
Still no victory in the playoffs for Standard, held by Saint-Trond
Of course, drawing conclusions from this meeting is premature. He signed one or the other very clean intervention, but also missed a shot from Barnes which could have allowed Bertaccini to double the score (48th) and his long restarts were not always successful. great precision. These conclusions prove that the staff has every interest in offering him other starts during the playoffs, just to accustom him to the demands of the elite.
Stands still unhappy
There were just under ten thousand (9,853), but still 700 more than last Tuesday, against Mechelen. Standard supporters have, once again, expressed their discontent by remaining silent during the first twelve minutes of the meeting and deploying two banners to ask the “limited players, mercenaries, failed plans to leave the club this summer” and report to management that their “SKILLS” were “limited”.
This time, the stands did not try to stop the meeting. The fans did not throw pyrotechnic devices onto the pitch but clearly whistled two players who left prematurely: Djenepo and Sowah. In the end, the meeting took place in more or less normal conditions. However, we must not be naive: the hatchet is not buried, far from it.
The unfortunate of the day: one minute for Steuckers before getting injured
Jarne Steuckers will not have many memories of his trip to Sclessin. Left on the bench, the talented midfielder came on just after the hour mark to breathe new life into his team, whose game was increasingly disjointed.
This impulse only lasted a few seconds. Launched in depth, Steuckers was narrowly tackled by Jonathan Panzo. Visibly, the English defender touched the left ankle of Trudonnaire who immediately requested his exit. He will therefore only have been on the pitch for one minute and should be out for next weekend.
The number of the day: sixteenth match in a row without a victory in playoffs 2
What were you doing on May 8, 2021? That day, Standard won in a match against La Gantoise during playoffs 2 without much interest. This meeting deserves to be noted because, since then, the Liégeois have not won a single match played in playoffs 2, a series of sixteen matches without the slightest victory. A figure which sufficiently demonstrates the involvement shown by Standard in this competition…
The most optimistic will remember that their team has gone a fifth game in a row without defeat but when it comes to five draws, that doesn't really allow us to move forward…
The game
Standard : Epolo, Noubi, Laifis, Panzo (77th Fossey), Price, Kawabe, Sahabo, Sowah (77th Canak), Djenepo (41st Balikwisha), Kanga, Yeboah.
Sint-Truiden: Suzuki, Janssens, Smets, Van Helden, Vanwesemael, Ito (84th Dumont), Delorge, Ogawa, Barnes (67th Steuckers then 70th Koita), Bertaccini (84th Ananou), Zahiroleslam (67th Kaya).
Referee: Mr Boterberg.
Warnings: Zahiroleslam, Delorge.
The goals : 13th Ogawa (0-1), 63rd Panzo (1-1).
